A lot of ink is being (justifiably) spilled over the Minnesota welfare fraud, in which Somali communities defrauded the Medicaid system out of at least $250 million, and as much as $18 billion. But this is only the biggest and most audacious case of government fraud that has cropped up in recent years.
Source: Noah Smith
In mid-December President Trump issued an executive order rescheduling marijuana from Schedule 1 (illegal drugs) to Schedule III (controlled substances). That removed obstacles to greater medicinal marijuana use and makes federal law more consistent with laws in the vast majority of states. The move came after intense lobbying from both sides. Trump’s executive order both surprised and irritated some lawmakers and political operatives on the religious right, who have seen the movie, Reefer Madness, too many times.
In the vast majority of cases, when a person goes to a doctor or hospital or walks up to a pharmacy counter, someone else — an employer, health insurer or government — is paying most or all the cost. That system once spurred former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) to claim that if he paid for groceries the same way we pay for health care, he would eat better and so would his dog.